


encroach

by broniichan



Category: Free!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Just bros being bros, ai is there for like 3 sentences, set somewhere between s1 and s2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 17:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20604377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broniichan/pseuds/broniichan
Summary: Rin presses his lips together. “Don’t mock me.”“I havenevermocked you,” Nagisa says, unable to conceal a grin. “I’m just laughing near you, that’s all.”





	encroach

People always say Nagisa is impatient, but that’s simply untrue; he, like anyone else, is only impatient for unimportant things, like schoolwork, lines in stores, that lull between dinner and dessert, and whatever latest research study Rei is ranting about. 

Hand on his hip, Nagisa stops and looks up at Samezuka’s dorm. It’s not his first visit here, but it is his first alone, and faced with the locked door that requires a student card to swipe him through, his plan takes a slight pause. He could call Rin, but that would take the fun out of it, and anyway, Samezuka’s dorm itself isn’t particularly threatening. Nagisa plants himself to wait it out, heavy grocery bag in his other hand. 

Maybe fifteen minutes later, his patience is rewarded when some guy passes and approaches the front door. Seamlessly, Nagisa files in behind him, tailing as the guy swipes his student card. With a beep and a flash of green, the guy enters and Nagisa catches the door to follow after, finding an attendant at a desk before the stairs. The guy in front of Nagisa shows his student card to the attendant and after a nod from the attendant, heads up the stairs. 

Nagisa, casually, ambles over to the stairs. 

“Excuse me!” calls the attendant. “Can I see your card?” 

Nagisa tilts his head, faking a sheepish smile. “I forgot it in my room.” 

The attendant sighs as if this is the four hundredth time he’s heard that excuse in the past hour. “Okay, then write your name so we know who’s entering.” He procures a visitor sheet on a clipboard and pushes it to the edge of the desk with a pen. 

Nagisa picks up the pen, and after a second of thought, writes, _ RYUUGAZAKI _. “There you go,” he says, handing the clipboard and pen back to the attendant. 

Without bothering to actually read the name, the attendant nods and gestures a hand to the stairs. 

Giddy with the ease of his con, Nagisa waves and hops up the stairs, putting aside his future problems when he’ll eventually have to leave. Rin’s floor is relatively quiet, but it is late Saturday morning. 

Slowly padding down the hall, Nagisa scans the names at each door until he finds _ NITORI / MATSUOKA. _He jumps forward, hand outstretched to rap on the door, when a thud and the crash of multiple objects sound from within. 

Rin’s voice: “_ Dammit. _” 

Nagisa leans in and listens, hearing objects shift. He waits a couple more moments to see if he can gather any more clues, but there’s nothing but rustles and invisible movement. Growing impatient, Nagisa knocks. “Rin-chan?” 

A pause. “Nagisa? What―” 

“Thought I’d surprise you!” 

“Uh. It’s not really a great time…” 

“Aw, but I brought snacks!” Nagisa rustles the plastic bag enticingly. “You can use me to put off doing homework.” 

“Some of us actually _ do _homework, you know.” 

“Shh.” 

Rin falls silent. A long, tenuous breath, and then, with a yelp, something solid clacks. 

“Rin-chan? Are you okay?” When he receives no response, Nagisa cracks open the door and peeks in. “Rin-chan…?”

“_Oi!_” Harried, hair falling out of a ponytail, and brandishing a broom like it’s a weapon, Rin rushes over and slams the door shut after Nagisa. He crouches and shoves a rolled up towel to block the crack at the base of the door, which Nagisa apparently dislodged in entering. “You don’t just walk into someone’s―”

Rin loses his train of thought and pops back up, broom handle clenched tight. 

Nagisa frowns. “Rin-chan, what’s going on?”

Distractedly, Rin tears his eyes from the room and scowls at him. “_ Nothing. _Just cleaning.”

Nagisa may not be the most neat person, but he imagines scattering books and papers on the floor is the exact opposite of what one should do in cleaning. 

Before he can comment, Rin says, “Wait, how’d you even get in the dorm? You’re supposed to show an ID.” 

“Oh, I just followed someone else in and said I forgot my stuff in my room.” 

“Jeez. I can’t believe you.” 

Nagisa tilts his head. “Gonna invite me to sit down or anything? You’re so tense, Rin-chan. Where’s Ai-chan?”

“Out.” 

“Out,” Nagisa parrots, mimicking Rin’s flat tone. “No, really, what’s up? Why didn’t you want me to come in? What’s with the broom and the―”

Something moves, and faster than Nagisa can react, Rin whacks the broom to the floor. 

A cockroach scuttles to safety underneath the bunk. 

Rin presses himself to the wall, body radiating tension. He stares, open mouthed with shallow breaths, drilling holes into the bunk with his eyes.

“Oh, Rin-chan,” Nagisa coos. “You’re not scared of cockroaches, are you?” 

“No!”

Nagisa raises his eyebrows. 

“I’m _not,” _Rin snaps. “They’re just ugly and gross and I hate looking at them.” 

“Okay then, _ Rei-chan. _‘They’re not beautiful…’” 

“Shut up, I’m not―” 

“Don’t worry, Rin-chan, I won’t tell anyone. Unless the price is right.” 

Rin frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Nothing.” Nagisa kneels to look under the bunk, glimpsing a dark shape clinging to where the floor meets the wall. “Why are you covering the crack in the door? Then it could just leave on its own.” 

“_ Because _ I’d know it’s still on the hall and could come back at any time. No, I have to get rid of it. Permanently.” 

“Wow, you sound so cool. Like an assassin or something.” 

Rin presses his lips together. “Don’t mock me.” 

“I have _ never _mocked you,” Nagisa says, unable to conceal a grin. “I’m just laughing near you, that’s all.” 

Rin rolls his eyes. One of the fallen books shifts with a small noise, and he instantly jumps onto Ai’s desk chair, frantically scouring the floor. 

Still crouched and able to see under the bed, Nagisa says, “That was a book, Rin-chan. It’s still under there.” 

“Right. Right…” Nevertheless, Rin doesn’t step down from the chair, one hand gripping the broom handle and the other gripping the back of the chair. “You don’t… you don’t think there could be more of them, do you?” 

“I don’t know, Rin-chan. I don’t live here.” 

With a sharp inhale, Rin hops down from the chair. He clears his throat and carefully pushes the chair back into its spot. Nagisa hides a smile. 

For several moments, minutes maybe, they remain in silence, watching and waiting. 

The cockroach moves out Nagisa’s sight, finding some crevice in the room to lurk in. 

“Um… Rin-chan…” 

“What?” 

“It… moved…” 

Rin’s fingers go white around the broom. 

“But I’m sure it’ll come out soon!” Nagisa laughs, brightly. 

Rin swallows thickly. Nagisa’s smile slips, and he takes to actively searching out the cockroach, squinting at the floor and looking in the cracks and corners of furniture. 

Minutes pass. 

“Um…” Nagisa begins. “Maybe…” 

A dark shape darts out. 

Rin wields the broom again, cockroach just dodging. Cornered by Ai’s books still scattered on the floor, it scurries up Rin’s calf. He screams and hits his shin, sending the roach across the room to Rin’s open closet door. Following, Rin slams the closet door. After a second, he picks up the towel from the front door and places it to the crack at the bottom of the closet door. 

He exhales shakily, running a hand through his hair before glancing at Nagisa. “Well. It’s trapped, but those things can last forever, so I guess I can’t wait for it to die in there.” Longingly, he places a hand flat to the closet door. “My jackets…” 

“Rin-chan, I don’t think…” 

“I can never open this door.” 

“Rin-chan, won’t you have to move out of the room eventually?” 

Rin sets his jaw. “I’ll leave it shut. I’d rather take the fine for leaving belongings behind.” 

Nagisa tiptoes over Ai’s books to look at Rin squarely. He sighs and places a hand on Rin’s shoulder. “Rin-chan, you’re extremely dumb.” 

“Oi, what―” 

“You’re really going to let a little bug―”

“It’s not _ little _―” 

“A moderately sized bug control you like that? Don’t you think it’s good to face your fears?”

Rin purses his lips. “Oh, what, so you can stand there and do nothing?” 

“Rin-chan, you have to face your fears to become a _ real _adult.” 

“You’re younger than me!” 

“But so much more mature.” Nagisa wheels a stiff Rin around by the shoulders to face the closet. “Don’t worry, if you don’t make it out, I’ll be sure to give your final words and wishes to Gou-chan and Ai-chan and Haru-chan and Mako-chan and Rei-chan.” 

“If I don’t make―How am _ I _the dramatic one here?” 

Poking between Rin’s shoulder blades, Nagisa steps back. “Go. Take charge of your destiny.” 

Rin glowers at him over his shoulder, broom a shield in front of him. but with a long, stuttering inhale, he nevertheless looks toward the innocuous closet door and waits. No sound. 

He steps forward, a hand to the closet door knob. An exhale. The door creaks as he opens it. 

Nagisa holds his breath as Rin pokes his head in and brushes aside some of the jackets. 

Rin whispers, “I don’t see it…” moments before he squawks. 

_ Well, so much for facing fears, _thinks Nagisa, watching Rin scamper around, cockroach scuttling at his feet. 

The broom falls from Rin’s hand with a clatter and he backs into the closet door, slamming it. 

“Do something!” he snaps at Nagisa. 

The cockroach darts around Ai’s books on the floor. 

Knocks at the door_ . _ Both Rin and Nagisa look at each other. 

A voice Nagisa doesn’t know. “Uh, Matsuoka? Can you try to keep it down in there?” 

“Sorry, I―It’s escaping!” Rin points at the cockroach heading for the front door, crack at the bottom wide and open with the towel gone.

Hopping over Ai’s books, Nagisa corrals the cockroach toward the door with his feet, hand touching the doorknob. 

“What’s going on?” 

“Sorry!” Nagisa says by way of explanation and opens the door just a crack, glimpsing some other kid with brown hair on the other side before he slams the door. 

Quiet. Sharp exhales of breath. 

Nagisa opens the door again to confirm that yes, the cockroach was successfully smushed into the door jamb. “Got it,” he says to Rin, squatting down and ignoring the other guy blinking at him.

Rin’s hesitant footsteps come up behind him, stopping. They both take in the crushed remains. 

“That’s so gross,” says Nagisa, delighted.

Rin clicks his tongue. “I hate this.” While Nagisa continues to marvel at the cockroach, he opens the door wider and dips his head. “Sorry about the noise, I…” 

“Uh, yeah. Just don’t…” the guy says. Laughing nervously, he takes a step back. “Um… Didn’t… I thought cockroaches laid eggs when they’re crushed.” 

Nagisa looks up; Rin turns ashen. 

The guy waves his hands. “I’m not an expert, I just heard… So I might be wrong!” He quickly backpedals. “Um, see you later, then!” 

His footsteps trail away, and down the hall, a door shuts. 

Slowly, Rin meets Nagisa’s eyes. He points at the cockroach. “You’re cleaning that up.” 

Grudgingly, Nagisa carefully scoops the squashed cockroach into a paper towel and sprays the the door jamb with enough antibacterial soap to kill a small mammal. Then together, he and Rin escort the remains outside (taking the back door with no attendant) to the patches of grass and trees by the dorm. 

Nagisa digs a small hole and drops the cockroach in. He looks back at Rin. “Any last words?” 

“Can you hurry it up?” 

“Jeez…” Nagisa scrapes the dirt back into the hole and pats it flat. “Rest in peace, sweet roach. I hope there’s lots of humidity in the afterlife.” 

Rin sighs. 

As Rin lets Nagisa back into the dorm and they traipse up the stairs, Rin mutters under his breath, “We’re not going to talk about this again, okay?” 

Nagisa smiles. “Okay.” 

Once in the room, Rin begins picking up the detritus of books. Nagisa helps him reorganize them on Ai’s desk and they work in comfortable silence. 

“Wow, I had no idea Ai-chan was so messy,” Nagisa says, squeezing a tenth book onto a wobbly pile. “He makes me look neat.” 

“Yeah, well, I’ve tried my best to help teach him how to organize his stuff, and he’s gotten better, at least.” 

“Aw, Rin-chan, you’re so considerate.” 

Rin looks away. In a curled voice, he says, “It’s just because I don’t like living in a mess…” 

“Sure.” 

Eventually, they clear everything up off the floor, and Rin sprays and wipes down the place of the cockroach’s death once more for good measure. 

“Oh yeah, I forgot!” Nagisa plucks up his bag of snacks. “Now that we can actually have fun.” 

He flops down on the bottom bunk (unsure whose bed it is but going with it anyway), and begins dumping out his snacks.

Rin exhales and sits down beside him. He picks up one of the packages lying beside Nagisa and turns it backward, furrowing his brow over the nutrition facts. He tosses it back. “These are so sugary.”

“Not to worry, Rin-chan, I got something specifically for you,” Nagisa says, pulling out some spicy jerky and handing it over. “You used to like these, right?” 

Rin’s breath catches. “Yeah.” He takes the jerky in hesitant hands and studies it for several quiet moments. “You remembered.” 

“I remember _ everything _.” 

“Hm.” 

In comfortable silence and crinkles of packaging, they eat their snacks. Swinging his feet back and forth, Nagisa inhales his, while Rin gnaws on a strip of jerky, looking thoughtful. 

Nagisa coughs, chunks of caramel in his windpipe. 

“Oi,” Rin says, patting him on the back. “Slow down.” 

Nagisa covers his mouth, eyes watering, and slows, able to swallow the pieces down his esophagus instead. 

Rin ruffles Nagisa’s hair, shaking his head. “Jeez.” 

Nagisa looks up at him. Often he wishes he were tall, imagining a day when he wakes up and he suddenly towers over everyone, but now, in this moment, there’s something comforting about having a friend bigger than him. 

Quietly, he says, “I’m glad you’re back, Rin-chan.” 

“I’ve been back in Japan for months.” 

“I know, I mean… _ Really _back.” 

Rin stills. His expression softens. “Yeah. Me too.” 

Both of them go quiet, chewing slowing, hands lax on snacks. Rin inhales and ducks his face away. 

Nagisa leans in, trying to peer around. “Rin-chan, are you crying?” 

“_ No, _” Rin says, quickly wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. 

Nagisa’s own eyes prickle, and he smiles, letting them well up. A little wobbly, he says, “Good. Me neither. That would be so awkward if one of us were crying, right?” 

“Mm.” 

After several minutes, when sniffs have slowed and eyes have dried, the two of them dive back into their snacks. They catch up, for real; Nagisa asks every question he can possibly think of and Rin, a good sport, answers them. But it’s not unidirectional, and Rin sounds curious about how Iwatobi has been without him. 

It’s only when the door cracks open and Ai comes in that Nagisa thinks to check the time: it’s been two hours. 

“Oh, hi, Hazuki-kun!” Ai sets his backpack down, opening the bulging zipper to display how he’s managed to cram exactly nine thousand sheets of paper inside.

“Ai-chan, I’ve told you not to call me that,” Nagisa whines. 

“Ah, um… Right. N-Nagisa…” Digging through the volumes of paper, Ai somehow finds what he’s looking for and pulls a sheet out. “What have you guys been up to?” 

Rin opens his mouth but Nagisa drapes an arm on his shoulder and derails him with, “Oh, you know, just two guys enjoying each other’s company.” 

“Sounds better than what I’ve been doing,” Ai sighs. He pulls out a calculator and sets it beside his sheet of paper on the desk. 

“That reminds me,” Rin says, sitting up and shaking off Nagisa’s arm. “I actually do need to do homework, so you need to scram.” 

“But I could stay and be your cheerleader when you need some motivation!” 

Rin grimaces. “I doubt you can be quiet for long enough for me to actually get any work done.” 

“Aw, Rin-chan, you have no faith in me.” 

“With good reason.” Rin stands up from the bunk and points at the door. “Out.” 

Groaning, Nagisa goes limp and slides off the bunk, oozing to the floor. “_ Fine. _” 

Rin points at the snack wrappers and plastic bag still on the bed. “And take your mess with you.” 

“Is this any way to treat the friend who so generously bought you snacks?” 

“Ninety-five percent of those snacks were for you, so yeah.” 

Still complaining, Nagisa pries himself up off the floor and gathers all of the trash into the plastic bag. Rin shoos him out the door so Nagisa manages only a hasty farewell to Ai, but Rin walks him down to the lobby anyway. 

The attendant continues to furrow over his desktop, tapping his pen, and without a word, Nagisa pads to the front exit. 

The attendant looks up. “Oh, wait a minute, uh…” He checks the clipboard. “Ryuugazaki-kun.” 

Nagisa halts and turns back, ignoring the look Rin shoots at him. “Yes?” 

The attendant lifts up a pen. “Can you sign out for me?” 

Jotting down the time and making up a flourished signature that approximately resembles the characters for Ryuugazaki, Nagisa hands the clipboard back. 

“You have your ID this time, yes?” 

Nagisa smiles and pats his bag for show. “Yep!” He turns and widens his smile in opposition to Rin’s disapproving look, flicking a peace sign. “Later, Rin-chan! Let’s do this again soon!” 

Despite himself, Rin deflates a little, a small smile tugging his mouth. “Yeah,” he says. 

Nagisa waves and slips out the door. 

Before heading back to the station, he makes a quick stop on the other side of the dorm, kneeling at a freshly shifted clump of dirt. He pulls out his phone and snaps a picture for an attachment. 

**Visiting a dearly departed friend :’( Really makes you think about the fragility of life**

By the time he reaches the station, a message awaits him. 

**it’s been 5 minutes, can you shut up**

Nagisa smiles.

**Nope!!**

Rin doesn’t reply after that, but Nagisa merely tucks his phone away into his backpack and boards the train back to Iwatobi. 

Later, when he arrives back home, he stops in his doorway and surveys the clothes littering the floor. He sighs, drops his bag, and begins picking them up and tossing them off to the laundry hamper. Once done with that, he rearranges the pens and books at his desk and takes a seat. 

When he pulls out his homework with the intention of doing it, Nagisa thinks,_ Rin-chan’s a terrible influence. _

**Author's Note:**

> this was my first time writing from nagisa's pov and honestly i had a great time. catch me shitposting and ranting on [twitter](https://twitter.com/bronii_chan)


End file.
